Star profile
Kappa Pavonis
Variable starWhat is Kappa Pavonis
Kappa Pavonis shines some 500 light-years away in the southern Peacock constellation, and ranks among the brightest Cepheid variables of its W Virginis type —a venerable class of aged pulsating stars. Its luminosity oscillates with a measurable rhythm that decades ago turned it into a tool for calibrating distances in far reaches of space. Each pulse is the breath of a star in its final stages.
Where it is and when to see it
Kappa Pavonis lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is June, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it never sets and culminates about 57° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 23° N.
It ranks no. 11 in brightness among the 44 stars of Pavo in our catalogue. To find it, start from Peacock, the brightest: it lies about 15° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 500 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Kappa Pavonis
- Constellation
- Pavo
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.40
- Distance
- 500.3 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 284.238° · Dec -67.233°
- Catalogue
- HIP 93015 · HD 174694
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Other stars in Pavo
Pavo has 44 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- PeacockAlpha Pavonis1.94
- Beta Pavonis3.42
- Delta Pavonis3.55
- Lambda Pavonis4.22
- Pi Pavonis4.33
- Xi Pavonis4.35
- Nu Pavonis4.63
- Phi 1 Pavonis4.75